Greek Community of Melbourne
 
 

Growing up Greek: Intergenerational Dialogues

 

Location: Virtual Event, Zoom, YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Twitter
Date: THURSDAY 18 Mar. 2021 @ 7:00pm AEDT (Melbourne) | 10:00am EET (Athens)
Facilitator: Professor Joy Damousi | Presenter: Dina Gerolymou
Panelists:
Varvara Ioannnou, Esther Anatolitis, Anthea Tsaousis, Victoria Kyriakopoulos

Language of Presentation: English
Entry: FREE

 
 

Synopsis

 

Greeks have a long and dynamic presence in Australia. Contemporary Greek narratives feature concerns about the 'second and third generation" of Greek -Australians, discuss the 'sandwich generation', point to the 'older generation' or the 'first generation migrants' and question the future of the 'new generation'. Throughout all those generations, women have been workers, mothers, wives, daughters, mothers in law, teachers, professionals, volunteers - the list goes on and on. What were the expectations for them and their daughters and granddaughters? Many young women point to family expectations being centred predominantly around academic achievements, but when that is accomplished the pressure shifts towards marriage, preferably to a Greek boy. 

Is there a clash of values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations among different generations? If yes, does it influence choices and relationships? What creates friction among the generations and how can we overcome it? 

Historically, women have been the keepers of traditions. Has this role changed? How women maintain, protect, challenge and reinvent traditions? Have we been reinventing ourselves as Greek women of the diaspora or have we been quick to fit in the 'good Greek girl' mould? A panel of Greek-Australian women from three generations will discuss these issues on Thursday 18th of March. This discussion is in lieu of IWD 2020 which was postponed due to the pandemic

 
 

Anthea Tsaousis Bio

 

Anthea graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2017 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing & Finance and a Diploma of Languages in French. She then launched her corporate career with BP Australia, where she is a Food Buyer for BP’s 160 cafes across Australia.

As a passionate Greek Australian, Anthea is a part of AHEPA – Australia’s largest philanthropic organisation. Through this, she has worked alongside other young Greek Australians to raise fund for Arf of the World – an orphanage in Athens, Paradise for Kids – a missionary in Sierra Leone and most recently the Australian bushfires.

As a mega food enthusiast, Anthea spends any crumb of spare time in the kitchen cooking and feeding her family or reading beautiful cookbooks. She truly believes that culture is preserved through food and cherishes the Mediterranean diet.

 
 

Varvara Athanasiou-Ioannou Bio

 

Varvara Ioannou is the Founder and Chair of Food for Thought Network Inc, a community organisation which pioneered bringing sensitive issues to open fora in a multicultural environment. Varvara has a background in education and training and has developed health and wellbeing training programs for some of the biggest companies in Australia. She is currently a Sessional Lecturer at Swinburn University teaching a course she devised, to professionals, including academics, on developing inclusive learning and teaching practice. Her current occupation is in line with her passion for raising awareness about diversity and inclusion. She has won numerous awards and recognitions as an educator, community leader and women’s issues advocate, such as the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award (Higher Education – 2018), the Victorian Honour Roll for Women (2003), the Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry HACCI award for Philanthropy and Community Service (2003), the International Teaching Fellowship (1993). Her current community work includes an oral history project profiling diverse women. Varvara is a mother of two and has recently welcomed to her family her first grandchild

 
 

Victoria Kyriakopoulos Bio

 

Victoria Kyriakopoulos is a journalist and communications advisor with more than 30 years experience working in the Australian media, including major daily newspapers, The Herald and The Age and national news magazine, The Bulletin

She has held various roles as a government media advisor, communications consultant and freelance writer, worked on diverse projects, including television and documentary programs.

Between 2000-2008, Victoria worked extensively in Greece, becoming the Athens-based editor of the Greek diaspora magazine Odyssey and a correspondent for Australian and international media, covering the 2004 Olympics and major news stories.  She has been a food and travel writer and is the author of several editions of Lonely Planet’s Greece travel guides, including Crete and Athens. 

Victoria is also the former Program Manager for The Hellenic Initiative Australia, a national not-for-profit organisation delivering a range of programs to assist recovery and renewal in Greece. 

 
 

Esther Anatolitis Bio

 

Esther Anatolitis is a cultural leader, writer and facilitator. A passionate advocate for the arts, Esther is Executive Director of the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA), Deputy Chair of Contemporary Arts Precinct and a former board member of ACMI, Elbow Room, the Arts Industry Council (Victoria) and Regional Arts Australia. Esther has a background in culturally diverse media, has worked for SBS and NEMBC and has been a board member of the Antipodes Festival. She has held CEO-level positions with several key arts organisations including Melbourne Fringe, Craft Victoria, SYN Media, the Emerging Writers’ Festival and most recently Regional Arts Victoria. In the Art Life’s 2020 Power Trip list, Esther was named the eighth most influential person in the arts, with the following description under her name “Although the Feds think the arts should be invisible, they just can’t silence the head of NAVA”.

 
 

How To Participate

 

We are providing two ways for you to enjoy the seminar online: 
A. If you want to actively participate and ask questions at the end of the seminar you will need to join us through a Zoom Webinar - for which you'll need to pre-register by following this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7316128491029/WN_ugS9ZtMgSq2LLbjWbboxfA

B. If you prefer to sit back and enjoy the show, just visit our Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Periscope pages where we'll be live streaming the event.

 
 
 
 
 
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The Greek Community of Melbourne is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Non-Profits Commission ABN 14004258360